So these last 6 months or so I've gone from considering long travel suspension for my 1990 4Runner to commiting to a SAS to now back to going with Total Chaos's Gen. 2 kit. I've got about 4 weeks before I am ready to buy but the one qusetion I have is King or Fox shocks, Which are better, more affordable ect.

Also, Anyone else that has done this to their 2nd gen 4Runner(even 1st gen)? what was your total cost for your front end and what did you do in the rear?

 

let me be the first person to say use search. A few people here have done long travel kits and recently someone has done a long travel rear suspention as well. Also you have to work a few more things into your budget like fibergalss fenders as well.

 

In terms of performance, the two shocks (King & Fox) will be indistinguishable if they are valved similarly. Same goes for Swayaway. King Prerunner series shocks will be the most affordable if you're buying them new.

 

I've got the shocks, fenders, T-100 axles, truss, ect.. all worked into my budget already. I was set on Bilstein's when I was goin to do the SAS and never looked into anything else after I made up my mind...so here I am now considering soemthing else for a differnt application. I have $1000($1200 max)for shocks, I just want the most for my money.

 

You should probably talk with Seth (Deathrunner) he is probably one of the most knowledgeable people on that subject when it comes to early IFS rigs.

 

Since your in Corona, just go over to Kartek and check out what they have.... Speak with "Baja" Mike......

You can also stop by total Chaos and they'll answer all your questions....

 

I'm running both king and fox on my 4runner. I have king coilovers in the front and fox bypasses in the rear. I also had fox coilovers on my old ranger. Both king and fox make great shocks, I havent had problems with either.

Based on your budget ($1k-$1200) I would go with kings. King coilovers are $375 each and foxes are $495 each. Plus you will need coils ~$80 each.

 

Pinnacle, coils for the rear or front(coilovers)? What did it cost you total(NOT including your rear) for the front. Did it give you any lift of keep you about the same height?

 

The coils are for the front coilovers.

I think the total for the front was about $4000 for the parts (gen II kit, shock hoops, lower uniball, t100 axles, shocks, heimed steering). In the front I'm running about 3" of lift. I'm going to adjust down a bit to match the rear. Thats one of the nice things with the coilovers, is you can adjust the height up and down.

 

I was figuring about $3800, so I'm in that ballpark. How much were your coilovers and where did you get them? Did you come from stock suspension when you added the Gen II kit, if so how much different is the ride daliy on the street and offroad?

 

My shocks were $1350 with tax, shipping and upgraded seals. I ordered them directly from king, they are in garden grove I believe. With out shipping and the upgraded seals they should be around $1100 with coils.

If you dont get the lower uniball ($375) and the heimed steering ($385) you will defiantly be in that ballpark.

The 4runner was stock before I got the gen II kit. They ride is so much better on the road and off road it is amazing. I'm waiting for the pismo trip to see how the front and rear compliment each other. Before in the rear I was running the deaver AAL and that was a big improvement over stock also.

 

Baja Mike has been gone from Kartek for a long time. (unless he just switched back?)

 

If you're looking for near stock road manners, I would get the 500# coils like Pinnacle has. My 450# coils like to lean in turns. Doesn't bother me anymore, btu at first it was kinda freaky. It's definitely night and day compared to stock.

 

deathrunner what did you do in the rear?

 

Deaver Leaves. It's a pack made for the tundra. It goes over axle.

It's a compromise going over the axle. The ride is softer than stock. The flex is great. But, there is less up trvael than if you were to run 62's under the axle. For speed, I would do what Pinnacle has. I wanted a hybrid vehichle of sorts, to handle some speed and some crawling. It seems to work as a compromise.






Oh yeah, if you go LT, make sure to lose the torsions:

 

Check out this link about the difference between fox and king
http://www.offroad-engineering.com/foxvsking.html
I run Kings and they work great.

 

Coilovers aren't entirely nessecary...

 

True, you can run stock torsions and get full flex, but then you lose high speed travel.

I found it extremely difficult to fully compress a tire with torsion bars. Even in your photo, the stuffed tire isn't able to rest on the bump stop. ANd it looks like the passenger tire is at full droop.

Lawrence Welk, right? Is that place still gated off?

 

The torsions on my truck are 30mm Downey. Fully capable high speed, and crawling. Since that picture the truck has gotten 2.0 fox shocks and bumps in the front. Still just as capable crawling.

I also prefer torsions because they don't place the stress on your engine cage and front frame area, or those pesky ball joints.

Oh yeah, your old shackles are on my truck, Seth.

Yes, lawrence welk, not gated off if you go in the back way. I'll pm you my phone number, call me if you want to go out there with me and Austin some time soon to test out my 35's.

 

Last time I went out there "the back way" the ghetto bird was tellin us to get lost.

Dude, those shackles were huge.